From Beginning to End - May 6, 2007

Revelation 21:1-6

“Elvis has left the building.”  If you are at least as old as me (or maybe a little older), you know what that phrase means.  “The show is over.  Go home.  Nothing to see here, folks.”

But that’s what it means now.  That’s not what it meant the first time it was said.  In December 1956, Elvis Presley was playing at a show called the Louisiana Hayride.  Elvis had a growing popularity with teenagers in 1956, but had not yet achieved the status for an act that would be higher up on the bill.  He was, in fact, an opening act for this show—an opening act for Hillbilly music artists that would play later.  The crowd that had come to see Elvis that night was not particularly interested in Hillbilly music, and as soon as Elvis finished, the teenagers rushed to the exits, in hopes of catching a glimpse of their young star as he left the venue.

You can imagine how disruptive and disturbing this was for the owner of the venue and for the acts that were still left to play that night, to see the crowd get up and riot towards the exits.  IN an attempt to control the crowd— and continue the show—Horace lee Hogan, the owner and producer of Louisiana Hayride spoke in to the loud speaker system: "Please, young people . . . Elvis has left the building. He has gotten in his car and driven away. . . . Please take your seats."

In other words, there’s a lot more show left, folks!  Elvis may have left the building, but the show goes on.

Revelation—the most maligned, misunderstood, overly interpreted (and sometimes under-interpreted) book of the Bible was written for a crowd mourning the loss of the temple in Jerusalem.  The loss of a temple was  more than just a matter of Roman oppression—God lived in the temple.   If this wonderful church burned down, it would be a tragic loss, and generations of blood, sweat and tears would go up in smoke.  But eventually, we would figure out where to worship while we rebuilt.  God would not be gone, even if the building was.

I thought a lot this week about what I frequently say each Sunday morning in the welcome to worship: ”It doesn’t matter who you are, how you got here, or what you brought with you—God is here and you are welcome!”   I was really challenged this week to think about what that means.   Do I really believe that God lives in this place?  If so, how does God feel about the fact that I invade this space every week without asking?  Do I really believe that God lives exclusively in this place and not three blocks down the road?

For the intended audience of the Revelation, and for us, there is an important message in these words: "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;"

This is a genuine shift in thought for the people of God.  No longer will they have to go to a certain place to be with God, for God is right beside them.  It is an amazing, liberating shift!  In The Message, Eugene Peterson  paraphrases it this way: “God has moved into the neighborhood.”  God hasn’t been that close since Eden, when God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.  God is no longer some far, off disinterested party, no longer a  cosmic puppet-master pulling the world’s strings and watching what happens. God is our neighbor. (Is anyone else imagining Mr. Rogers in a sweater and sneakers right now?)

Today is Confirmation Sunday.  Sadly, for many young people, confirmation is the day that Elvis leaves the building—in that first meaning: the show’s over, nothing to see here, go-home-and-come-back-when-it’s-time-to-plan-your-wedding kind of way.  And if the parents of teenagers and young adults in this room are honest, we will admit that it was that way for many of us, too.  I wasn’t “confirmed” as such, because I didn’t belong to a tradition that did that. So, for me, Elvis left the building when I went away to college.  And so did I.  And I came back to plan my wedding, and then I disappeared again for a few years and then I showed up again right on schedule to join a church in time to have my first child baptized, and that is when it all kind of stuck for me.

And so, since hypocrisy is not a spiritual virtue, I will tell you that the moment I went back to church the church welcomed me with open arms—no judgement—and it would be that way for you, too.  And that is why I say what I say on Sunday mornings—because I believe it to be true: that God is truly our neighbor, here and everywhere, and that God will welcome all to God’s house—frequent fliers, relative strangers, and returning ne’er-do-wells, alike.

But—this is important for you to hear, as well—I think about the years that I missed out on being in church.  And it would be remiss of me (and malpractice of my calling) if I didn’t tell you that I regret it.  I think about the years when my relationship with God could have been more meaningful, when I would have given anything to have someone remind me that God was as close to me as the next breath, that Christ came to earth that my life might be more abundant, that God was a friend I could actually talk to, that God cared about my life from beginning to end.  It would have made a difference.  I lost out on something.

So I share with you this morning, Kesley, Chelsea, Liza, Jack, Collin and Chad some words of wisdom:

  • Keep the Big Picture in mind: Once upon a time, years ago, in a church like this one, your parents stood at a fount like this one and handed you over to a preacher, trusting that preacher to sprinkle you with water and say some words over you, symbolizing a new beginning.  But that was just a step.  Today you are all old enough to stand on your own two feet, walk to the font on your own steam, and declare your intentions with your own voices.  That is just another step.  The journey is not over.  How you feel about the church today is not necessarily how you will feel about the church on your deathbed.  Today is an important day, but it is not THE important day.
  • Use your power.  Yours is the most coveted, sought after generation in recent church history.  Every church I know wants people like you active in the church.  Use that information to help us to keep the church relevant to you.
  • Use your voice.  We want to know what you need from the church.  Tell us.  If we don’t appear to understand, tell us again.
  • Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells you.  God will never lie to you.  Chances are that you will cycle through several different kinds of relationships in your life, but God is God from the beginning to the end, no matter what your church affiliation looks like.  Have and maintain a close relationship with God not because you must, but because you can.
  • Cherish your heritage.  You have come this far in the process because you had Sunday school teachers, pastors and parents who loved you and wanted you to know and love Jesus.  We didn’t tell you the stories of Noah’s Ark and Jacob’s ladder, and Jesus in the manger and how to spell Presbyterian for nothing.  We were passing on to you a legacy, so that you might always know where you came from.  Treat the legacy with respect.  People who love you within an inch of your life handed it to you!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: The show is far from over, brothers and sisters in Christ.  God has not left the building; there is much more left to see and do .  Thanks be to god!